Cowboy Boots Are Universal with Dani Aravich

0:00Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spane, where we're putting a few bucks toward that Etsy witch, the Boston Legacy Hired, to conjure up some warm weather at Saturday's opening match. Citrus can't thrive in the cold, y'all. It's Thursday, March 12th, and on today's show, we've got some exciting, good game news to share, so be sure you listen all the way to the end of the episode. And you're going to want it, because we're chatting with hilarious Team USA Paralympic Nordic Skier, Danny Aravitch, aka the One Arm Dan. We got up with our in-between events to talk about what it was like to discover new Paralympic-sized dreams in her mid-20s, what she knows is a three-timer that she didn't know as a Paralympic rookie, her best finish at the games yet, and top tips for rocking her signature cowboy boots. Plus the world's longest gabfest, CC returns in PR, and look at me when I'm talking to you. Look at me! It's all coming up right after this. This is an iHeart Podcast, Guaranteed Human.

1:01This sport spotlight is brought to you by Capital One Venture X Card, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Did you know that the first ever U.S. Women's National Soccer Team was formed in 1985? A group of 17 women trained just one week before traveling to compete in the prestigious Mundialito Tournament in Italy, marking the first time a U.S. team participated in international play. With Venture X, enjoy easy-to-use premium benefits, like a $300 annual Capital One Travel Credit. Plus you can earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, term supply, ccapitalone.com for details. Brought to you in part by Vital Farms. Let me tell you why Vital Farms' pasture-raised eggs are the only eggs I have in my fridge, the hens. They're live in the good life, fresh air, sunshine, and wide open pastures. I use my Vital Farms for my famous frittatus, and you could trace your eggs back to the farm they came from. Check the carton for the farm name, pop it into vitalfarms.com slash farm, and boom, you're looking at the pasture. So next time you're in the store, look for the black carton in the egg aisle and visit vitalfarms.com to learn more. Vital Farms. Good eggs, no shortcuts. Peace to the planet, shall I mean to God here and listen, we are back.

2:03The Black Effect podcast festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Poem in Yacht. Yeah. And the full lineup is nuts. We got the Gritchin' Eggs podcast, Beyond Take Howe, and Big Ice Cup Cat. We got Club 5, 20 with Jeff Teague in the gang. Yeah, yeah. Don't call me white girl, Mona will be there, keeping positive sweetie with Chris the way they may. We got reality with the King with Carlos King. And yes, drink champs will be in the building. No, no, no, no, no. Plus you know we gonna have a lot of guests, so you need to join us. And we got the Black Effect marketplace, the picture podcast, and everything you expect from the Black Effect podcast festival. Take us around, tell right now, go get your, the blackeffect.com slash podcast festival. Don't play yourself, okay. Pull up. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son and I am like, who is this person? Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast. A ranged marriage is basically a reality show and you are auditioning for your soulmate and who is judging. Only your entire family, I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition hoping to find

3:08love the right way and instead I found chaos, comedy and a lot of cringe. Listen to Boys and Girls on the iHot Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back slices, here's what you need to know today. Let's start with the Paralympics where the goat is golden again and again. Oksana Masters has won two gold medals in as many days this week, crossing the line first in the Paracross Country skiing sprint sitting event on Tuesday and the Paracross Country 10K sitting race on Wednesday. Team USA teammate Kendall Gresh also made the podium in the 10K earning bronze. As for Masters, her two wins bring her total medal tally to 22 Paralympic medals, 12 of them gold. Masters called Tuesdays win in the sprint race redemption. She earned silver in that event at the Beijing Games four years ago. She's already equaled the three gold she won at those games and with a few races still to go, she could very well best her record and earn a fourth. Heck, a fifth gold medal in Italy.

4:09The Parabiotto on women's sprint pursuit is Friday morning, there's a cross country relay on Saturday, and then the games conclude with the 20K on Sunday morning. Consider us seat dead. We'll keep you posted as results come out. More Paracross Country team USA Sydney Peterson also won gold on Wednesday, finishing first in the women's 10K standing race in 29 minutes 42 seconds. Silver medalist Vilda Nielsen of Norway was just two seconds behind her. Peterson's silver is another addition to her collection, having won all three colored medals in Beijing back in 2022. Team USA's Danny Aravitch finished six in the final, her best pair of finish yet will hear plenty more from her later in the show. To wheelchair curling and an update on both events, first in mixed doubles, the US duo of Laura Dwyer and Steve put on a show in Cortina, entering their final group stage game against China on Monday, they needed a win to keep their medal hopes alive and Dwyer made it happen delivering a clutch winning shot to give Team USA the win. There's a great video of her reaction too. She let out a couple tears of joy and relief, and her coach came over for a hug.

5:11Dwyer said there's no crying in curling coach. He chuckled hugger and said, yeah, there is love those little moments captured on camera. Dwyer went on to finish just off the podium, falling to South Korea in the semis, and then coming up short to Latvia in the bronze medal game on Wednesday. The bronze was Latvia's first ever medal in any event in any Winter Paralympic competition. Pretty cool. As for curlings, four person mixed team competition, today is the final day of round robin play. The top four teams will earn a spot in the semifinals, and as of this recording, the US team is currently tied for 5th. To the WNBA, where the league and players burn the midnight oil this week, despite a marathon 12-hour meeting from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, they still couldn't get a CBA deal across the finish line. 5pm to 5am y'all, we have so many questions. Were there snacks, coffee? Was there any thought at 2am that maybe things should wrap up? Or did everyone just say, hell with whatever plans I had to be a functioning human tomorrow,

6:11I'm staying in this room until I get a deal done? What percentage of the players in the room were lesbians? If it was a majority, the league office should have known before that meeting even started that they'd be at a disadvantage. If lesbian dates last all day, lesbian CBA negotiations could go all week. We don't know if there were snacks or a high percentage of lesbians. We just know at the end of the day, or morning, they finally called it quits without a deal. Players Association Executive Director Terry Jackson told reporters the bargaining session featured quote, a lot of conversation going in the right direction. While WNBA commissioner Kat the Engelbert added quote, we're working hard and still have work to do. As of this recording, on Wednesday afternoon, no further updates coming out of the meeting, to be honest, the people who were there may still be asleep. But we'll still link to an ESPN story with the latest details in the show notes. Fronted the show, Alexa Filipoo was among a group of journalists waiting outside the building in New York for an ungodly number of hours, and we got to give a hat tip to them for grinding it out and a hat tip to the folks who delivered them chairs and goodies while

7:11they were waiting on the streets of Manhattan. You could check out the fun picture of the crew chilling, we'll link to Alexa's pick in the show notes. To college hoops, the latest AP poll is out, and the biggest headline is that Yukon is no longer the unanimous number one. They're still in the top spot, but while the Huskies have held the top spot all season and have received every first place vote for eight straight weeks, UCLA picked up three first place votes this week. This came after the Bruins defeated then number nine, Iowa by 51 points in the big 10 title game on Sunday. We'll link to the full poll results in the show notes so you can see where all the teams should go. More college hoops and a few final conference tournament results to tell you about. Gonzaga defeated Oregon State 7666 on Tuesday to win the West Coast Conference Championship and clinched their 16th trip to the NCAA turning. Also on Tuesday, Green Bay won its third straight horizon league championship, pulling away from Youngstown State for a 5749 win to advance to their 21st NCAA tournament. Meantime in D3 hoops, the NCAA tournament is already underway and the NYU women's basketball

8:13team is in the sweet 16. They'll tip off against hardened Simmons on Friday, having won 89 straight games. And should NYU continue their winning ways into next season? Yukon coach Geno Oriem has said this week he'd like to be in the arena to see them break Yukon's 111 game win streak. No pressure violates. More hoops, the FIBA World Cup qualifiers are underway in cities around the world, with a total of 60 games being played across four round robin qualifying tournaments over the next week. Some teams are fighting for the remaining spots at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, which will take place in Berlin this September. While five others, the US, Germany, Belgium, Australia, and Nigeria have already qualified, but are just getting some extra time on the court together. Team USA's journey got underway Wednesday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with the game against Senegal. We're recording this before that one wraps, so we'll link to the results and the schedule in the show notes. The US squad has six athletes making their senior national team debuts in Puerto Rico. Pagebeckers, Angel Reese, Kiki Iriafen, Monique Billings, Ray Burrell, and Caitlin Clark.

9:14You remember, Clark hasn't played since last summer, due to a number of different leg injuries. Everything from her growing to her quad to her ankle took some kind of hit during the Indiana Fever Guard sophomore WNBA season. So no doubt, Clark will have a lot of eyes on her in this tournament to see how she's feeling and playing as the WC's in years, allegedly. Team USA take the court again tonight for a game against the hosts, Puerto Rico. Tip off is at eight Eastern, and you can watch on True TV or HBO Max. To Hockey, it's NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championships time, with regional semi-final action starting tonight. Yale will take on Minnesota Duluth at six Eastern, followed by Yukon versus Princeton at seven, and Quinnipiac versus Franklin Pierce at eight. Those games will be available via streaming only on ESPN Plus. Regional finals will take place on Saturday, with teams looking to earn births in next weekends, frozen four. We'll put a link to their schedule in the show notes, and we'll keep you updated as teams make their way through the tournament. Our Hockey, as the NCAA tournament gets started, a few players are also in the running for another trophy. The 2026 Patti Kazmire Memorial Award, given to the best player in college hockey.

10:19On Wednesday, USA Hockey announced this year's finalists, University of Wisconsin Defender Caroline Harvey, Penn State Forward, Tessajanaki, and University of Minnesota Forward, Abby Murphy. All three finalists were also on the gold medal winning team USA Hockey team in Italy last month. So it'll shape up to be a hardware heavy season for one very deserving athlete. We here at Good Game were a little curious, whether it was a big deal that a different gold medal winning athlete, Leila Edwards, wasn't included in the top three. So we asked resident women's college hockey expert and friend of the show, Nicole Hazi, who told us, quote, they very specifically tell you as a voter that international play should not be considered. It's about this season only and NCAA only, and her numbers are only okay. End quote. Thanks as always for the insight, Nicole. We'll link to a recent series of interviews, Nicole did with some Patti Kaz finalists in the show notes if you want to read more about some of the top players in college hockey. The winner of this year's award will be announced Saturday, March 21st, the day before the National Championship Game. To soccer, the Kansas City current has acquired forward and friend of the show Penelope Hawking.

11:19The current sent $350,000 in interleague transfer funds in exchange for Hawking, who was BFC's leading goal score last year. Hawking was the seventh overall selection in the 2023 NWSL draft, playing for Chicago before getting traded to BFC before the close of the summer transfer window, August of 2024. Now, Chicago actually get a little cash in this deal, too. CBS Sports Sandra Herrera added this context, quote, revisiting the Chicago Stars trade, BFC paid out $250,000 in 2024, and $100,000 in 2025. Deal included an extra, quote, 10% on any transfer fee BFC receives in a future transfer of Hawking. So the stars get an additional $35,000 on top of the initial $350,000 already received. End quote. Were you following? Anyway, Chicago gets paid even more in order for Bay to send Hawking to the current. Here's hoping the Hawking acquisition isn't related to Temu Shwingas availability or the health of any other forwards in KC. Maybe the current just have a mind to shore up their depth in case of an injury like Temu's

12:23last season. Either way between Hawking, Temu, Debiania, Michelle Cooper, Lola, LaBonta, and Croy Bathoon, the current are stacked. Finally, want to give you an update on the Iranian Women's Soccer team. We told you earlier this week about how members of that team are considered to be in great danger by returning to Iran due to both the continued U.S. and Israeli strikes on the country, as well as the players' decision to remain silent during the national anthem ahead of their first game of the Asian Cup. After Iran was knocked out of the tournament, five members of the team were granted a silent by Australia, where the event is being held, and an additional athlete also went on to accept an asylum offer and remain in Australia, according to government officials there. But the rest of the team went to the airport on Tuesday. Per reporting from the Associated Press, each woman was taken aside after passing through security with officials explaining through interpreters about the asylum offer, though each woman went on to board the plane. Sources told the athletic that many of the women chose to return to Iran due to concerns for their family back home. Before the squad had even left Iran, sources with direct knowledge of the team's situation

13:28described how each had been asked to leave a large financial guarantee with the Iranian government, with their families, identities, and whereabouts also logged. If there are any family businesses, they will be in the hands of the IRGC until the player returns. One person explained, they will then also have to ensure that they are well behaved according to the regime's terms until the money is paid back. Those sources added how, on arrival in Australia, players' passports were confiscated to make absconding more difficult, while their phones were also tapped or confiscated. With strikes raining down in their home country, many players were left unable to contact their families to check if they were alive. End quote. We'll link to the reporting from both the AP and the athletic, and we'll keep you updated as we learn more. We gotta take a break. When we come back, she loved western fashion before it was a 2026 trend. Grab your boots. It's Danny Arabich. Next. This sport spotlight is brought to you by Capital One.

14:28Capital One offers no fees or minimums on checking accounts. Did you know that two new expansion teams will begin play this year in the National Women's Soccer League? The 2026 season will see the league expand from 14 to 16 teams, with Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC kicking off their inaugural seasons in March. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank for details. Capital One and a member FDIC. Whenever I'm headed out to a workout first thing in the morning or getting ready to yap about sports with the girls, I'm drinking Gatorade lower sugar. Whether I'm tired, out of breath or dehydrated after a hot yoga class, Gatorade lower sugar helps keep me hydrated. I've always been a Gatorade girly. I grew up getting it at the gas station with my brother, but I don't always need more sugar in my life, so Gatorade lower sugar is perfect. It has 75% less sugar than regular Gatorade and all the electrolytes. Gatorade is the first drink I always want to grab from the fridge. Nothing hits better than an ice cold Gatorade after a workout.

15:31It hydrates better than water and has no artificial flavors, sweeteners, four colors. Try Gatorade lower sugar today, available on Gatorade.com and in stores nationwide. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of the Fault in Our Stars and now I guess also is the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alargon, a writer and journalist and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was 9 years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football is a story we've shared for over 30 years. Since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team, very debatable and I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game, I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak and above all its beauty.

16:32Together we'll find out why of all the unimportant things football, soccer is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alargon and John Green on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, once last time you've listened to Hot 995 because we have all of the music but also a lot more. Like in turn, John, in your morning show, I'm Elizabethany, I want to make sure you always know about the latest events, deals and things we're making fun of around the DMV. I love this station, you talk about real stuff. Nikolmez gets you access to all of your favorite artists and we're all giving a bunch of things away every day. In fact, you might even be able to win a million dollars. Oh, it's never working, awesome. We're DC's number one Hamie's station, Hot 995. Joining us now, she's a track athlete, cross country skier and biathlete, currently competing in her third Paralympics. Born without her left hand and forearm, she goes by the social media handle the one-armed Dan, co-founder of Media Company, cultured fan of hiking and horseback riding.

17:33She's got a cowboy boot sponsorship and sling stickers to say pizza, pasta, parrots, sport. It's the biathlon bandit, Danny Aravitch. What's up, Danny? What's up? That was a stellar intro. I'm glad you heard about the stickers. I know jealous because my producer Alex and I were out there for the Olympics but we couldn't stick around for the Paralympics and we missed out on the stickers. I'll save you one. I'll save you one. Thank you. Okay. I love all of those things. It's on a success. A bunch of competitions under your belt are already in Milan, Cortina. You took sixth in the Paranordic Women's Classic standing, tenth in the biathlon, women's sprint standing and sixth in Paralympics and individual standing. Those sixth places are your best Paralympic showings yet. So what went well for you in those events? Well, Sunday was the biathlon individual and it was really exciting because I actually spent half the race in silver medal contention but what's so crazy about the biathlon individual is for every miss on the biathlon range, it adds a minute of time and I was shooting really well up until the last shot, literally shot number 20 out of 20.

18:34I missed so it added a minute, which took me out of contention. So it was exciting, I think, for everyone to get to experience that I was in it. I was in it until that last shot, which is frustrating but exciting and my big goal for the Games was to make the classic final. I've traditionally not been the strongest classic skier and in my only six years across country skiing, I gravitated to the freestyle or skate technique more. So the fact that I even made a classic final was a huge deal for me. I love that. In an alternate universe, that last shot hits and everybody gets to see you in silver all the way till the end. But I love that there was that excitement throughout the race and still a great finish for you. We've got the sprint pursuit in Biathlon on Friday. So help us understand the big difference between that and the other Biathlon events you've already done. So this is a new format actually to the Paralympic Games into our world cups these past few years. It's basically a way we get head to head byathlon because everything else is interval start so you versus the clock. And so we do a qualifier in the morning where it's again, you versus the clock, very short

19:35distance is like less than six kilometers usually. You shoot twice. If you miss, you get 15 second added penalty and then based off of your morning result, you actually come back in the afternoon, do the exact same race, but you're seated head to head based on your morning. So you can't blow off the morning, you have to perform well, but you also know you're probably going to race again later that day. And it's one of the most exciting events. It's actually the event that I've had my world cup individual podium in. So I'm really excited. It can go really well or it can go really bad really quick, which adds a lot of variability and especially for a newer skier like me, it puts me in the mix a lot more, which is really exciting. And I think for people who are new to watching the Paralympics or new to watching Biathlon, it's a great event to first tune into because it is head to head. It's exciting. You know, there's pressure when you're coming into the range and someone's right behind you. Like, are you going to hit your shots and have to go to the penalty lap? Are they going to go clean? And it's just a fun event that we get to do and it's new as well.

20:36So it'll be cool to see it done at the Paralympic Games. Yeah, I do love how Biathlon's like being a kid who acted out in gym class. Like take a lap. That's it. Take a lap. That's a great description. Like, like, sorry, you're in trouble. Take a lap. If you missed your shot, you've also got the 20K cross country interval start free standing race, which is rolled right off the tongue. That's coming up on Sunday. Help us be smarter viewers for that event too. What should we be watching for? The 20K is our longest race at the game. So for our race, we do five laps of four kilometers. So it's pacing race. It's really easy for people to burn themselves out or go out too slow since you are doing so many laps. It's also the last day of the Paralympic Games, so logistically, somewhat of a nightmare because you're going to go from racing your longest race to packing up your stuff and getting out. Lactic acid build up, just sitting on a plane. Yep. Lactic, you know, going to closing ceremony, probably still sweaty from the race and then hopping on the 6 a.m. flight the next morning.

21:37So I'll be a long race. It will be again, you versus the clock since it's the interval start. So you really have to pay attention to the time and even if people pass each other during the race, it doesn't mean they're doing better than that person because there's factors involved to impair cross-country skiing. And so it's a long one, but hang, hang on, hang in there. It's still worth watching. You've been an athlete your whole life. You started out in soccer and basketball and softball and then tracking cross-country for a little bit in college at Butler. When did you first think like, oh, I want to look into the Paralympic's and potential making the US team? It actually wasn't until I was working my full-time job in professional sports. I was working for the Utah Jazz and I was post-collegently, you know, hadn't been competitively running in a few years. And I just wasn't feeling as fulfilled as I hoped I'd be in my professional career. And so I started doing some research on the Paralympics, met a family who was from the same hometown as me back in Boise, Idaho, whose daughter was starting on the Paralympic track and field circuit. And she encouraged me to try it out, you know, to look into it, help me figure out some

22:41races, some coaching. And I just started training on the side while working a full-time job, which was really difficult. And through that training, I got asked to try cross-country skiing in late 2019 at a camp in Breckenridge, Colorado. And that's when I first tried cross-country skiing and for anyone who hasn't cross-country skiing, it's a really technically challenging sport. And most my competition has grown up doing the sports, so starting it in my mid-20s was very late to the game. And so I'm still playing catch-up to girls who are a lot younger than me, but they've been skiing a lot longer than me. And you know, it kind of created this new dream for me. Like I didn't have this dream growing up because I didn't really know much about Paralympics, didn't know I fit the bill to compete in the Paralympics. And so I developed this new dream just about six years ago. And I've already gotten two games now and my third and have really shifted also professionally my business career from working in pro sports, now working in Olympic and Paralympics sports, which has been really rewarding to see it from both the athlete side and the

23:42business side. Yeah, I mean, you're picking it up pretty quick. You made your Paralympic debut at the Summer Paralympics in 2021 running the 400 meters on the track. And then quick COVID turnaround you are making your Winter Paralympic debut just six months later, which is crazy. What do you think three-time Paralympian Danny knows that Rookie Danny didn't? Oh, great question. I think that three-time Paralympian Danny knows how much stuff you get now because like you roll into your first game. So you're like, oh, yeah, I heard you get some free gear. I brought a dumbass. Yeah. Yeah, Nike Ralph Lauren, like I overpacked so much for that first Paralympics with nutrition products, with clothes to wear. And quickly I realized I didn't need any of it. So this Winter, though, has been unique because we had a full world cup season leading into the game. So I've actually been in Europe for almost two and a half months now. So I did have to have enough before the Paralympics to survive me through Europe for these a few months. So I was still probably seemingly overpacked, but it was just because I needed to get

24:46it. It was worth it. It was worth it. Two months. Yeah. Well, and this year you don't just get clothes and stuff. You get 200K over the course of your lifetime from that new donor. How nice is that? It's, I mean, incredible. The biggest thing for me, you know, going from working professionally to trying this Paralympic career out was I lost like all the typical benefits someone has from a full time job between your salary and your 401K and, you know, life insurance policies through your own companies. And so that was one of the biggest gambles I had to take when I started competing was was giving up all of that financial security and the fact that, you know, with the Ross Stevens award now, we get that security of a retirement plan, a life insurance policy is huge. I was actually in Milan for the Olympic Games for a couple of days during one of my off-weeks and got to meet Ross Stevens who's the donor and it was really cool to be able to shake his hand in person and say, you know, thank you from Team USA athletes.

25:46This is going to be really life altering for a lot of our athletes who don't have these traditional, you know, career paths. And so all those benefits like have never really been a reality. I just feel bad for Home Depot. They're losing their whole workforce. So you would always see those ads. Everybody worked at Home Depot. You know, when you look at your first Summer Olympics and now this is your second winter vibes, why is it, is there a big difference between Summer and Winter Games? Summer Winter Games are vastly different. First off, the number of athletes, the Winter Games, just the reality is they're smaller, there's less sports. And also with the Winter Games, all the villages are really spread out. So in my Summer Paralympics, all of the sports were there for Tokyo. I believe except cycling because they were in a different part of Japan. But for the Winter Games, we're so spread out. So we're the only sport in this Prada Pso Village, cross-country and biathlon. And to a certain degree, then you're like, it kind of feels like any other competition because it's the same people you see all four years in between. And it's just very different in that sense.

26:49But I do love the Winter Games. I think the Winter Stories, I mean, just like some of the countries too that emerge in the winter space, like right now, what's really cool is El Salvador is having a moment. They developed a Paracross Country ski program. Like they obviously don't have snow to be skiing on. So they're skiing on the beach and using sand is like the resistance. I saw that video. Now you bring your own special flare. You're not training on sand, but you do wear cowboy boots to every race. I know you can't give your sponsorship a shout out. Cause a rule 40 while you're during the games. But you know, everyone go to Danny's Instagram and make sure you go check it out, give that sponsor a little bit of love. But I'm wondering if you've got any sort of style icon when it comes to cowboy boots, like anyone who's got a great boot game or that you look to to see how they're styling them. Cause I just got my first pair of cowboy boots in Austin. And I'm having a little trouble like figuring out how to wear them. Like I don't know. I feel like here in Chicago, I don't know how to style them. So who should I look to besides you? Uh, I mean, I feel like what's cool right now is that Western fashion is having a moment.

27:52Like you're seeing a lot of big brands, even in high fashion, like do some Western inspired pieces, which is really fun. But I mean, I think Reba, I mean, she's a country western. Sorry, but like Reba always has a great boot game. But yeah, I think you know, that was something too, like for a long time, I grew up riding horses. I'm trying to get back into it now. I've, uh, but for a while there, like I went to college in the Midwest. And I wanted to wear my cowboy boots. And I felt like a phony like, yeah, I, I can't wear these here in Indianapolis, India, but then you realize like, actually, I can wear whatever I wear anywhere. And it's, yeah, cowboy boots are universal. My significant other Eric, he's in Europe for the first time here watching the Paralympic games. And he's wearing his cowboy boots all over it. Oh, he's so, I love it. You too can wear him in Chicago. Okay. I'm taking that vote of confidence into the spring whenever it arrives, because it's sure cowboy boot time yet here in Chicago. You mentioned that you're working in the Paralympic and Olympic space. You started this company co-founded a media company called Culture

28:55at Helping to Change the Way the World Views Parasport. And you're working with fellow athletes like Brenna Huckabee. How did working for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee impact your decision to actually start your own shop? It was actually in the build up to the Paris Paralympic games where I knew I'd be going to Paris, actually working for Team USA, really worked on the digital media team and was helping kind of launch our creator program, which is where we would bring influencers, athletes to come and create content on behalf of the team USA brand. And just in the build up, like I noticed in the greater media space, there wasn't a ton of coverage about some of the, like, marquee world cups or international competitions or trials events. And so I started posting videos kind of on my own social channels. And Brenna reached out to me, one of our other co-founders, Ryan Nicewinder, who was a gold medalist in wheelchair basketball reached out was saying, you know, I want to do something for the bigger movement. And not only are there Paralympic sports that also occur all four years, it's not just during the game's time. There's also elite Paris sports that are not in the Paralympics that have really,

29:59you know, well developed competitions internationally. How can we do something? And we didn't really know what to do other than we got to do something. And so we started with the social channel and have tried to build it out into, you know, web and some editorial work, merchandise. We actually just worked on our first featured documentary, trying to tell a Paralympic story. And so it's been really, really special to get to do it alongside athletes who understand it because they've lived it. And our goal really is to convert every sports fan into a Paralympic sports fan. I love it. It's called cultured with an X-C-U-L-X-T-U-R-E-D. Ignore the X when you pronounce it. Yeah, there's a women's sports company called together also as an exploding in there. So it's it's very on brand. It's very of the moment. We could talk to you literally all day, but I know you have to run. So one last question for you. You mentioned that you're a boys and a div. You're a professed big fan of Mountain West live in. And you were actually a part of the bid process for the Salt Lake City Games for the Olympics and Paralympics to be there in 2034.

31:00So does that mean you're in it for the long haul, hoping to compete in your late 30s and be out there in Salt Lake? I will be in Salt Lake City in 2034 in what capacity? I don't know yet. We'll have to see, you know, we got to take a one game cycle at a time. And I know I'll be in the French Alps 2030, but we'll see where I'm at career rise, but I'm really excited to work alongside the big committee to really, you know, try to bring home the best games we can put on. And it's such a unique games in the sense that with all these winter games, it's those remote villages, everything spread out with Salt Lake City. It's one athlete village, everything's within an hour drive. So fans can access so many more events too. And so I think we'll be able to deliver a great games. And we, we need to have a winter Paralympics that really redefines, you know, culture and disability inclusion. And I think as the United States, we have a big opportunity here to try to promote the Paralympics like never before and try to promote winter parasport. So fingers crossed that we can, we can accomplish those big goals in Salt Lake 34.

32:04Yeah, well, we'll both be there with our cowboy boots on whether you trade them out for skis every once in a while. We'll let your body and your brain decide that Danny was so great to talk to you. Congrats on your success already. We really look forward to watching you this weekend. Thank you so much. Thanks again to Danny for taking the time. She's got a future in media if she wants one. Super great interview. We got to take another break when we come back, get pumped because an even good or game has arrived. This sport spotlight is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One offers no fees or minimums on checking accounts. Did you know that two new expansion teams will begin play this year in the National Women's Soccer League? The 2026 season will see the league expand from 14 to 16 teams with Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC kicking off their inaugural seasons in March. Capital One, what's in your wallet? Terms apply, see capital one dot com slash bank for details. Capital One and a member FDIC.

33:06Whenever I'm headed out to a workout first thing in the morning or getting ready to have about sports with the girls, I'm drinking Gatorade lower sugar. Whether I'm tired out of breath or dehydrated after a hot yoga class, Gatorade lower sugar helps keep me hydrated. I've always been a Gatorade girly. I grew up getting it at the gas station with my brother, but I don't always need more sugar in my life. So Gatorade lower sugar is perfect. It has 75% less sugar than regular Gatorade and all the electrolytes. Gatorade is the first drink I always want to grab from the fridge. Nothing hits better than ice cold Gatorade after a workout. It hydrates better than water and has no artificial flavors, sweeteners, four colors. Try Gatorade lower sugar today available on Gatorade.com and in stores nationwide. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of the Faulkner stars. And now I guess also is the co-host of the away end of brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alagón, a writer and journalist and John and I have known each

34:08other since we were kids. My first world cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love on our new podcast, the away end. We'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 world cup. For us, soccer, football is a story we've shared for over 30 years. Since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team, very debatable and I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why of all the unimportant things football, soccer is the most important. Listen to the away end with Daniel Alagón and John Green on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back slices. We love that you're listening, but we want you to get in the game every day too. So here's our good game play of the day. Big news slices. If you love listening to the show, perhaps you'll enjoy staring at our faces while

35:11the show comes out of them. Yeah. What I'm trying to say is we're pivoting to video. Wait, no, that's not quite right either. We're not every blog in 2015, cutting writers in favor of short form third party garbage. Let me find the right language. Hold on. Okay, here's the official language. You can now watch my good game interviews on the iHeart women sports YouTube channel. That's right. Full interviews in video form. Just subscribe over at youtube.com slash at iHeart women sports. And that's the at symbol. We'll put a link to it in the show notes. In honor of the milestone, I'm actually rocking some of our newest good game merch, the logo T and you'll be able to see that I'm wearing it when you subscribe and watch an upcoming interview on YouTube. So get your logo T and check out the rest of our new merch at breaking T dot com slash spain. And don't forget that we're just a few months out from pride month. So be sure to grab all your gay shit merch with plenty of time to spare. We'll link to the breaking T site as well.

36:13We always love to hear from you. So hit us up on email. Good game at wonder media network.com or leave us a voicemail at 872 204 5070. And y'all do not forget to subscribe. Rate and review. It really helps us and it's super easy. Watch getting inspired by your roomie rating 83 points in 48 minutes review. Miami heat player Bam out of bio put up 83 points Tuesday night in his team's game against the Washington Wizards. Second most in the history of the men B a behind only the great Wilts Chamberlain and better than Kobe Bryant's modern day record of 81 the other half of super couple apostrabam asia Wilson was there to see the record in person. And she sat alongside her boo in the post game presser setting up sort of an adorable game of you are. No, you are. Take a listen to have 83. The first game she's here is a is very special. You know, the behind the scenes and the workouts and the conversations.

37:14They're very motivating and obviously you see what she does. And you get inspired every day by that. So I'm thankful to have her in my life. She's going to cry by the way. And I know he says that I'm his inspiration, but I don't think he has a clue how much he inspires me to continue to be the person that I am. But to show up for him, that's my biggest goal is always just to be present and show up for him. First of all, cute. I'm obsessed with the best player in the world sitting down next to her man to support him. Because when was the last time you saw a pro woman athlete spotlighted and invited to a man's big moment? Speaking of, I love friend at the show Maggie Hendrix Blue Sky post quote, going to act like this is the Olympics and give all the credit to his girlfriend. Good job, Asia. And quote, finally, Asia's career best is 53 points and 40 minutes. So she got beat by bam and she's out to regain the upper hand in the relationship. She posted after the game quote, well, won't have the highest career high in the house anymore, but at least it gives me something to go after. End quote.

38:14Look the fuck out WNBA 83. I wouldn't put anything past her. Now it's your turn, y'all. Raiden review. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Good game, Danny. Good game, Oksana. You conversations at last all night and don't resolve a goddamn thing. Good game with Sarah Spain is an I heart women sports production in partnership with deep blue sports and entertainment. You can find us on the I heart radio app. Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, production by wonder media network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier, our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones, Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer, production assistance from Avery Loftus. And I'm your host, Sarah Spain. This sports spotlight is brought to you by capital one. Capital one offers no fees or minimums on checking accounts. Did you know that the first ever US women's national soccer team was formed

39:15in 1985, a group of 17 women trained just one week before traveling to compete in the prestigious Mundialito tournament in Italy, marking the first time a US team participated in international play. Capital one, what's in your wallet? Terms apply, see capital one dot com slash bank for details. Capital one and a member FDIC brought you in part by vital farms. Let me tell you why vital farms pasture raised eggs are the only eggs I have in my fridge, the hens, they're living the good life, fresh air sunshine and wide open pastures. I use my vital farms for my famous frittatas and you could trace your eggs back to the farm they came from. Check the carton for the farm name, pop it into vital farms dot com slash farm and boom, you're looking at the pastor. So next time you're in the store, look for the black carton in the egg aisle and visit vital farms dot com to learn more vital farms, good eggs, no shortcuts. Peace to the planet. Shall I mean to God here and listen to your back? The black effect podcast festival is back in Atlanta on April 25th at Pullman Y'all in the full lineup is nuts. We got the grips and eggs podcast beyond take out and big ice cup cat.

40:18We got club five, 20 with Jeff Teague in the gang. Don't call me white girl. Mono will be there keeping positive sweetie with crypto. We're name we got reality with the king with Carlos King and yes, drink champs will be in the building. Plus, you know, we're going to have a lot of guests. So you need to join us and we got the black effect marketplace, the pitch your podcast and everything you expect from the black effect podcast festival. Tickets are on sale right now. Go get yours at blackeffect.com slash podcast festival. Don't play yourself. OK, pull up. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son and I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the boys and girls podcast. A ranged marriage is basically a reality show and you're auditioning for your soulmate and who's judging only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition, hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy and a lot of cringe. Listen to boys and girls on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever

41:22you get your podcasts. This is an I heart podcast guaranteed human.